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Juan Velazquez guilty of first-degree murder in Lodi beating death
A Lodi man was convicted Thursday of first-degree murder in a man's beating death in a Downtown parking lot.
Juan Velazquez
The verdict against Juan Antonio Velazquez was the strongest possible, and it came almost a year after Neal Eugene Singer's March 21, 2008, death. That date was not lost on Singer's sobbing family members, who gripped each other's hands as Judge Charlotte Orcutt read the verdict.
"Thank God we got the verdict. It's over and now he can rest in peace before the anniversary of his death," said his mother, Lisa Singer.
The jury, in handing down a first-degree murder verdict, signaled that they believed Velazquez intended to commit murder.
Velazquez, now 38, faces 25 years to life in prison at his April 27 sentencing. He had looked at the defense table, then dropped his head a little lower when the verdict was read.
The San Joaquin County jury, made up of six men and six women, deliberated for a total of about five hours after getting the case Wednesday afternoon. Jurors left quickly after the verdict was read.
Deputy District Attorney Ted McGarvey, trying his first homicide case, had argued that Singer was killed because of a dispute over a $40 game of pool at a bar.
Singer, 35, left the now-closed Jack's Back Sports Bar on Sacramento Street at 2 a.m. that day.
Minutes later, he was savagely beaten at the back of an empty parking lot at Elm and Sacramento streets. The county's medical examiner noted 56 wounds, many of them to the head.
Singer's cries for help woke the residents of an adjacent apartment building. They called police, and one told dispatchers which way the suspect had left the scene.
Velazquez was arrested a few blocks east at Hale Park. DNA confirmed that Singer's blood was on Velazquez's clothing and shoes, and identical pain reliever pills were found in the suspect's pocket and at the crime scene.
His defense attorney, Deputy Public Defender Chris Steiner, had argued that Velazquez was at most guilty of involuntary manslaughter. Velazquez, who had no memory of the incident, may have been provoked or may have just been present, the attorney had said.
Steiner declined to comment after Velazquez was led away from the courtroom by bailiffs. Sylvia Arceo said she is a friend of Velazquez and said she knows his family in Mexico and has updated them on the case. After the verdict was read, she cried but also hugged Singer's mother and son, explaining later, "Nobody wins. Somebody died, and both families lose."
Velazquez grew up in Mexico, met a French woman there, and they married and moved to Paris, Arceo said. They had a daughter, but he returned to Mexico when the marriage dissolved. He remarried in Mexico, where his two sons live with their mother.
He came to the United States for work, said Arceo, who described him as "an honest man, a peacemaker."
While she supports Velazquez and still has questions about some parts of the case, she knows that he was drunk and had taken Valium that night, as blood tests showed.
"We should all be educated," she said about the risks of drinking and taking non-prescription drugs. "I was not there but I'm aware that anybody is capable of any criminal act when under the influence of drugs and alcohol. Knowing Juan's past, goals and persona, he would not hurt anyone."
Contact reporter Layla Bohm at layla@lodinews.com.
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RADMAN1 wrote on Mar 13, 2009 8:59 PM:
warrenb1973 wrote on Mar 13, 2009 8:27 PM:
RADMAN1 wrote on Mar 13, 2009 8:22 PM:
napa valley chef wrote on Mar 13, 2009 8:02 PM:
warrenb1973 wrote on Mar 13, 2009 6:31 PM:
JACKMAX wrote on Mar 13, 2009 1:28 PM:
JACKMAX wrote on Mar 13, 2009 1:26 PM:
Chris_P_Bacon wrote on Mar 13, 2009 12:36 PM:
T & C wrote on Mar 13, 2009 8:51 AM:
jramagic wrote on Mar 13, 2009 8:25 AM:
He wasn't seeing things quite clearly, it seems. How can we hold anyone accountable
under those circumstances? He's just misunderstood. Now, with that in mind, don't you see things differently now? I mean, this is a guy you'd actually invite over for Thanksgiving, right?? "
Mazie wrote on Mar 13, 2009 8:10 AM:
warrenb1973 wrote on Mar 13, 2009 7:58 AM:
Comments on this story are now closed.